What’s Memorable: This family has suffered through almost an epidemic of suicide and you can tell that it’s really affected them. They’ve all lived with so much pain and having to deal with Jade’s addiction and suicidal behaviors is just too much, I really felt for them all. I hope that Jade is able to stay on the right path, they need her around. Also, the more I see of Jesse’s interventions the more I like his style. He makes the family confront their contributions in a unique and I think effective way.

Note: This was obviously produced as an Intervention Canada episode but I can’t find any record of it ever airing in Canada on Slice or Documentary channel. So it’s a US-CA hybrid I guess. Like Justin Bieber!

Official Synopsis: Adorable and fearless, Jade had an ideal childhood, two loving parents and a passion for horses that led her to competitive show jumping. Jade’s world came crashing down around her when, at 10, her father’s increasing depression led to her parents’ divorce and her father’s attempted suicide. Left on her own while her father fell deeper into depression and her mother attempted to rebuild her life, Jade felt abandoned and turned to drugs and alcohol for comfort. Now, at 24, Jade has a severe addiction to prescription opioids and cocaine and suffers from intense suicidal ideations. She has overdosed three times in the past year. Her family are desperately afraid that she will not see her next birthday without a successful intervention.

What’s Memorable: Ooof. I don’t know if it was the story or the people or the fact that so many of Jackie’s behaviors and justifications were uncomfortably familiar, but I found this episode to be really powerful. It reminded me a lot of Sylvia’s episode with the whole graduation event – watching her be totally committed to going and then slowly over the day getting drunker and drunker, convincing herself she’ll be fine and there’s nothing to worry about, having someone there watching her to make sure she doesn’t get too drunk to go. It’s painful watching people watch over an addict like that, there’s such a shared sense of dread and helplessness. The moment when Jackie asks for a drink during her intervention and immediately understands how bad that sounds and bursts into tears, I mean damn. I burst into tears right along with her. Jackie’s family was amazing and kudos to Sylvia for another job well done. I imagine she related to Jackie pretty strongly. She’s also just very good at this.

Official Synopsis: On the surface, Jackie had it all: a large tight knit family, a devoted husband, two beautiful sons, and a nursing career. But unbeknownst to anyone, Jackie found herself stuck in a loveless marriage. For 15 years she put on the happy face, but gradually began to drink and before she knew it, she was a full-blown alcoholic guzzling up to a gallon of wine a day. In 2015, her marriage dissolved, and after three wrecked cars and a DUI, she lost her RN license. Her bottom should have been a near fatal OD in Feb. 2017, but Jackie continues to drink, and her family and sons are helpless to save her.

What’s Memorable: 2 Hours! The intervention that started terribly but ended up being really effective, largely because of Jeff’s skill and experience. The fact that they kept their word to visit the sister in the hospital AND they showed up for their 8:00 am trip to the airport to go to treatment – this couple was very sick but not hopeless, they still had so much love & goodness in them, and their desire to be better and live better was really apparent.

Official Synopsis: Sam and Brad’s families have known each other since Sam and Brad were kids. Brad’s sister was Sam’s best friend growing up, and Brad’s father coached Sam’s softball team. Although Sam and Brad always had a crush on each other, it wasn’t until they were adults that they finally connected. But when Brad introduced Sam to heroin and the two quickly got married, their drug-fueled codependency became the basis of their relationship. Sam lost custody of her son from a previous relationship and her career as a dental assistant, and recently contracted Hepatitis C. Brad has had multiple overdoses, lost his career, and his daughter from an earlier marriage. Their families are desperate for Sam and Brad to get clean, but are unable to work together as a united front, leaving Brad and Sam to continue on a downward spiral. Now they fear that rock bottom will mean both of their deaths.

What’s Memorable: This one is absolutely heartbreaking and it’s one of the most moving and uplifting episodes of Intervention ever. The family dynamics of the 3 adult children here are clearly the fault of neglectful and absent family members. I think that’s what Andrew was getting at during the Intervention – yeah mom was the huge fuck up who did everything exactly wrong but where was everyone else? There were 3 kids here that needed family and no one was there for them. The sisters had to parent their little brother, feel helpless when he wanted to stay with the mom who sold him off, had to see him being horribly abused, and weren’t able do anything about any of it. As adults, with all those guilt issues weighing on them, they are trying to reconnect and do something to help him in his pain. The dinner they all had together -you could feel Robbie’s sense of being out of place, of wanting to be able to talk to his sisters but not having the tools to say anything meaningful, despite how he may have felt about being with them again. The intervention was one of the best I’ve seen. Andrew rocked it, and the followup was amazing. Dammit I love this episode.

Official Synopsis: Sweet, adorable and with a shock of blond hair, young Robbie was doted on by his two older sisters, Cara and Kristy. The trio were inseparable. Even as their home life descended into chaos when their mother turned to drugs and prostitution, the three siblings took care of each other. When the situation got worse and they were sent to foster care, they still stuck together. But eventually 11-year-old Robbie would separate from his sisters, escaping foster care to search for his wayward mother. He found her, only to follow her down a heart-breaking path of destructive drug use. Now 28, Robbie’s sisters unite to see if there’s any chance of saving their little brother and becoming a family again.

What’s Memorable: The whole weird situation with his sister on a night when he was high was disturbing. I hope he’s made amends for that because it clearly affected his sister Katie, she obviously needs some closure there. I love that when he got to treatment he was immediately motivated to commit himself to recovery and really make an effort. I love it when they do that! All in all a powerful and heartwarming episode.

Official Synopsis: Handsome, talented musician’s promising career is sideswiped by crystal meth, plunging him into a life of crime, prostitution, and addiction. (Canadian produced.)

What’s Memorable: Kathy is obviously a very smart, vibrant, fun, strong woman when she’s not high or trying to get high. She had ROUGH childhood, and adulthood for that matter, so it’s not shocking that she would turn to drugs. But she did so great for a while and her slide from where she once was is so unsettling. Her misery about being who she is right now, while simultaneously demanding to be able to stay that way, is a difficult thing to watch. I had high hopes for her recovery, too bad it didn’t take. Hopefully she’ll get herself into treatment and get back to being who she really is.

Official Synopsis: Wealthy entrepreneur loses everything to crack, reducing her life to a never ending cycle of prostitution and begging. (Canadian produced.)

What’s Memorable: Brittany’s relationship with her dad is really moving. The guy seems so damn cool and a really good father, despite his addiction. I had a lot of respect for his willingness to go to treatment to help get his daughter clean. If that’s what he needs to motivate himself, fine, as long as it keeps him clean and keeps Brittany feeling supported.

Update: Brittany Christine Howard died on August 20th, 2016 of an overdose, 2 days after completing treatment. Her family has a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral expenses. And here is Brittany’s obituary

Official Synopsis: Brittany was part of the all-American family. But rape, drugs, and divorce have caused this family unit to crumble. At the center, Brittany’s heroin and meth abuse has created a tornado that has divided the family and now threatens her life..and worse yet, Brittany may not be the only active user in the house.

Official Synopsis: Rob was already a successful business owner when he inherited over a million dollars and several valuable properties from his father. But after his father’s recent death, Rob, a former crack addict, picked up the pipe again after years of sobriety. In just 12 months, Rob has blown through 200k of his inheritance, has shut down his once thriving business, and now his wife and family fear for his life.

What’s Memorable: How much Oklahoma City still affects him, the strength it must have taken to do the job he did, his wife having to drive herself to the hospital when she was in labor because he was passed out. Also, the distant vacancy on his face when he’s drunk and the way he reacts to his mother taking care of him. Some of the things she said really struck me – calling him ‘white trash’ and his internet date ‘some floozy’ – and make me wonder if there were class expectations set for Brian that he struggled to live up to.

Official Synopsis: Brian had it all. He married his high school sweetheart, had two beautiful children, and became the owner/director of his family’s successful funeral home in Oklahoma. But while assisting with the recovery of bodies during the Oklahoma City bombings – including those in the building’s nursery – Brian fell apart and turned to alcohol for comfort and never turned back. He’s now lost his wife, kids, and career due to his addiction, and his family feels that at the rate he’s going, the next funeral will be for him.

Note: The above ‘official synopsis’ from A&E has some details and the sequence of events out of order, and it really creates a different story than reality. He didn’t start drinking heavily right after Oklahoma. He was a 21 year old apprentice when the tragedy happened and became owner/director of his own funeral home years later, and that’s when the drinking got bad. I feel like that’s an important difference.

DorothyAge: Early 20’s?Location: Charleston, South CarolinaAddiction: Alcohol, cuttingWhat’s memorable: Her parents had to lock their door when she was 14 because they thought she was gonna kill them. How much her stepdad loathes her and how his wife helps her. “I feel like I’m not gonna accomplish anything in my life. Sometimes I think my life doesn’t have any meaning. Sometimes I don’t even wanna be alive.” – Dorothy

Official Synopsis: Neglected as a child by her alcoholic mother, Dorothy is now lost in a haze of drugs, alcohol, and self-inflicted cuts and burns.

TheresaAge: 43Location: Raceland, LouisianaAddiction: AlcoholWhat’s memorable: She’s been an alcoholic for 25 years, suffers from cirrhosis, drinks beer from her bed all day long unless she goes to the one bar in town that hasn’t 86’d her yet. The argument with her daughter was hard to watch. I enjoyed her follow up with Candy – she seemed down to earth and realistic but grateful that her health was improving so much and committed to her sobriety.

Synopsis: Theresa swore she wouldn’t end up like her mother who was a raging alcoholic. However, years later after several failed relationships and children, Theresa finds herself drinking uncontrollably–to the point that even cirrhosis of the liver isn’t enough to make her stop. Her daughter says she’s at rock bottom, close to death, and her family knows that an intervention is their last hope.Original Air Date: April 2015Interventionist: Candy

ZachAge: 2o’s?Location: Salt Lake City, UtahAddiction: Heroin and cocaine, smoked togetherWhat’s memorable: This is a tough one. Zach continuously pawns his grandfather’s possessions for drug money (his laptop, guns, vacuum cleaner) and then immediately feels tremendously guilty about it, even admits that he did it as soon as he gets home and then deals with his grandfather’s frustrated rage. The amount of guilt and shame he carries around is visible on his face and the way he carries himself, but he just can’t stop doing it. The drugs come first, consequences be damned. And Whitney is an interesting case. She first makes it sound like she just started doing it within the last few weeks to “get closer” to him, but it seems clear she’s been addicted for a while and probably submitted Zach to the show in hopes of getting help for herself as well. Can’t say I blame her, and I guess it’s not technically against the rules. The intervention was pretty powerful, with Zach in tears as soon as he walked in. I’m so glad he’s taking his sobriety seriously and doing what he has to do to get his family back together.

Legacy Update: As of the June 27, 2018 Legacy Update (Shiann’s episode) Zach is clean and doing well.

Synopsis: While still a child, Zach’s father was incarcerated, and Zach and his sister were adopted by their loving grandparents. When Zach’s father was released from jail he moved in with the grandparents, hoping for a fresh start. It didn’t take long for his father to fall off the wagon, and in fact, it was Zach’s father who first introduced Zach to heroin. Using, but still functional, Zach met his girlfriend Whitney, and two years ago, she had their son. Today Zach’s cocaine and heroin addiction is out of control. Whitney has turned to Intervention for help.Original Air Date: April 2015Interventionist: Jeff

KristenAge: Early 20’sLocation: Falling Waters, West Virginia and BaltimoreAddiction: Heroin mostly, also coke

What’s Memorable: This is the episode I think I will remember more than any other in 20 years. The insanely dangerous time she spends in Baltimore and what she has to do for drugs, how much her mother loves her, the amazing follow up. She’s one of the addicts from this show that I actually would like to know in real life (sober). I really hope she’s well now.

Official Synopsis: When Kristen was 3, her parents divorced and soon after her grandparents died, and Kristen somehow felt responsible. Then Kristen’s mother married an alcoholic and addict, whose daughter introduced Kristen to drugs. By 15, Kristen was getting high. Currently, Kristen shoots heroin and cocaine, and then stays with her parents to recover. Ridden with guilt, Kristen’s mother is desperate to save her only daughter’s life.

LukeAge: 23Location: San Francisco, CaliforniaAddiction: CrackWhat’s memorable: Living on the streets with his mother who is willingly homeless just so she can keep an eye on her son. That’s some crazy co-dependency there. The craziness that he spouts when he’s high is disturbing. The intervention and followup is a tear jerker, very affecting. I hope this family is well now.

Official Synopsis: Luke, 23, dreams of a career in photojournalism, but his daily cocktail of drugs has derailed his college plans and left both him and his mother struggling to survive on the streets of San Francisco.

Penny LeeAge: 48Location: Waipahu, HawaiiAddiction: Alcohol (beer)What’s memorable: The crazytown drunken rants, how she quit her long-term job because she wanted to drink, how guilty her son feels about going to live with their dad, how she’s forced to babysit her grandson and has to beg to get paid for it because her daughter knows she’d buy beer with it. “If they feel they can’t trust me with money, then why trust me with my grandson?” Penny Lee does make sense sometimes. The intervention is a powerful one.

“We’re gonna do our very best to heal your whole family. You don’t ever have to live this way again” – Candy

Official Synopsis: Living in a small Hawaiian village, Penny-Lee has an infectious laugh and loves to have fun. But despite having a good family life and four children to be proud of, she’s an out-of-control alcoholic who spends most of her time alone, screaming and crying out to no one as she downs beer after beer. An intervention is her family’s last hope for their beloved family matriarch.

JessicaAge: 29?Location: Chicago, IllinoisAddiction: HeroinWhat’s memorable: Jessica seems like a really likable person trapped in an addiction that makes her unbearable. The house she squats in and her mother’s level of enabling are both pretty shocking.

Note: Jessica has commented below that she is doing well, and in the 4.10.16 episode (Karissa) there was a video update from her. She looks amazing and has custody of all of her kids, plus a new one! Congrats Jessica. So happy for you.

Official Synopsis: Jessica is smart as tack with a lust for life. Unfortunately, it’s the life of a heroin addict, living in an abandoned building, being shot up by a boyfriend, that she is committed to. Having spent her youth yearning for an absent, alcoholic father, Jessica followed the footprint of addiction left to her by her father, and now her own children are at risk of losing their mother.

AnthonyAge: 22Location: Wayne County, IndianaAddiction: Alcohol (vodka)What’s memorable: “It’s a sick love affair and I’m a hopeless romantic.” – Anthony. Oh, Anthony. Such a sad lost soul. His alcoholism is so advanced for his age, he’s been hospitalized 12 times in 3 months for alcohol poisoning. And what a mess he is when he’s drunk. He’s got a very sad and tragic story, never feeling welcome in his own family and losing his brother after taking care of him and even donating his bone marrow. The followup is uplifting, really hope it took.

Official Synopsis:
From an early age, Anthony’s father made him feel worthless. His parents divorced, and his mother remarried, but she was still unhappy and turned to alcohol and drugs. It was little wonder, then, that Anthony began drinking at age 13. Another blow came when Anthony’s younger brother died of leukemia. Anthony spiraled downward, and now he drinks half a gallon of vodka a day and takes whatever drugs he can find.

DennisAge: 41Location: Belton, MissouriAddiction: MethWhat’s memorable: How he walks 20 miles a day just wandering the streets, how he took the rap for his dad and went to prison and everything went to shit while he was there, but he still managed to get out and make a great life for his family until the housing market collapsed and it all went to shit again. How great his family was doing after his intervention.

Official Synopsis: Once a big-hearted Christian family man, Dennis uses his meth addiction to run from the past that haunts him, while his family falls apart

NicholeAge: 25Location: Calgary, CanadaAddiction: Alcohol (beer)What’s memorable: The shaking, seizing, slurring, blackouts, and prostituting herself for beer are disturbing, as is the way she and her mother blame her sister for Nichole’s drinking. I mean what her sister and her boyfriend did was super shitty (Nichole’s boyfriend of 5 years left her for her sister and now they’re engaged) but to say that’s the whole reason she’s an alcoholic is just absurd. I know people need a scapegoat for stuff like this, I get it, but it’s all pretty unfair to pin it all on the sister.

DallasAge: 21Location: Portland, OregonAddiction: HeroinWhat’s memorable: Shooting up in the femoral veins, the insanely oblivious enabling mother, how ridiculously good-looking Dallas and her fellow Portland street kid boyfriend would be if they weren’t junkies, the fact that they both prostitute themselves for heroin. “You have to what you have to do and there’s no shame in this crazy heroin game that we’re in.” -Jason

Official Synopsis: Strikingly beautiful with a great sense of humor, Dallas is nevertheless addicted to heroin and lives on the streets. After her mother attempted suicide, Dallas turned to drugs to deal with the confusion and pain. But Dallas’s mother is in denial about her addiction and supports her “heroin-chic” lifestyle. Dallas’s family needs a wake-up call and face her problems head-on if they’re going to save her.

ChristinaAge: 21Location: Riverside, CaliforniaAddiction: Meth, NorcoWhat’s memorable: How crazy, violent, and paranoid she gets when high, how abusive she is towards her mother, hallucinating her crying son and bugs crawling under her skin, and a first-of-its kind intervention: Genuine yes followed by a freak out session and violent demand for drugs and refusal to go. (And then a heart-wearming followup)

Official Synopsis: A beautiful 21-year-old addicted to Norco and meth, Christina has violent outbursts, believes that bugs are crawling under her skin, and has threatened suicide. Can an intervention save Christina before she loses her mind entirely?

What’s memorable: By all accounts an amazing, happy, fun, cool guy that is now homeless on the streets of LA and drinks all day. Hubert’s story is the episode that made me realize what it is I learned from this show that makes me love it so much: That every addict you meet is so much more than what they seen. It’s harder to appreciate an addict’s humanity when you see them living at their rock bottom – homeless, panhandling, prostituting – but people like Hubert remind you of it. Also memorable: his bipolar homeless friend John who really tries to take care of him despite wanting to walk away but caring too much to that. The neighborhood real estate officer who saw Hubert’s humanity and called the Intervention producers. The awesome, caring family who loves him so much. Hubert’s need to please his father.

Official Synopsis: Growing up Hubert, now 50, never felt truly loved by his stepfather. And his stepfather admits giving more love and attention to his three biological children. Meanwhile, Hubert protected his brother and sisters from hearing and seeing their parents screaming and hitting one another. Forty years later, it’s Hubert’s siblings’ turn to help him overcome a horrible alcohol addiction that has left him living on the streets of Los Angeles for the past six months.

DillonAge: 20Location: OklahomaAddiction: MethWhat’s memorable: His lifetime of risk-taking, his total apathy about what he’s doing to the people around him, his sad frustrated co-dependent mother, the dilapidated trailer he lives in with his addict father, the completely insane intervention. Dillon’s story has an exceptionally tragic ending, which you can read about here.

Official Synopsis: Growing up, Dillon showed tremendous promise. But after a bitter divorce, his mother, Tammy hoped that Dillon wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of his violent, alcoholic father. But today Tammy’s worst fears have come true. Dillon, 20, is living with his father in a dilapidated trailer where he injects methamphetamines every day and refuses any overtures for help. Tammy has one final hope–an intervention.

What’s memorable: Hospitalized 20 times for alcohol-related injuries – Yikes! How her parents are both alcoholics but deny that that has anything to do with Tiffany’s problem. How AMAZING she looked after treatment – her followup video is a must watch.

Official Synopsis: A tall, beautiful brunette, Tiffany maintained a perfect GPA in high school and played Varsity basketball. But despite her achievements, Tiffany’s childhood was plagued by her parents’ violent marriage and their drug and alcohol abuse. She married at 19 to escape the pain of her youth, but her controlling husband forced her to move back in with her mother. Battling feelings of worthlessness, Tiffany self-medicated with alcohol. Now, she has been hospitalized numerous times for alcohol-related injuries and has attempted suicide.

Update: A friend has let us know that Nik died on November 29, 2014 after having surgery. Read more here.

Official Synopsis: Beloved by his five sisters and his teenage son, Nik 35, was the glue that holds his large family together. He was a proud college graduate who became the director of a multi-million-dollar casino chain at a young age. But now Nik is a homeless drug addict. Four years ago, after a debilitating back injury, he became addicted to OxyContin. His addiction worsened and he turned to heroin. Now Nik has lost his job, his home, and custody of his son.

What’s memorable: This one hits close to home more than any other. I come from a poor Pacific Northwest logging town, raised and surrounded by loggers and mill workers who snorted crank like other people drink coffee. Coley, his lifestyle, the way he uses, is intimately familiar to me in a way that actually makes me uncomfortable to watch. ANYWAY, since this isn’t about ME…Coley and Francine’s story is powerful. Their love is so strong, and they’re such good people. What else is memorable – Coley so focused on finding the burl, risking his life for it. Doing lines in the garage. (Again, a personal connection to that). The amazing and inspiring follow up.

Official Synopsis: As a timber cutter, Coley has one of the most dangerous jobs in America. But instead of taking serious precautions, he increases his risks every day by snorting crystal meth. Because of his addiction, Coley’s business is falling apart. His wife can barely stand to talk to him any more and his relationship with his three young children is deteriorating. They all believe his only hope is rehab, but will he be willing to go before it’s too late?

JeffAge: 40Location: Fredericton, New Brunswick, CanadaAddiction: Alcohol (beer)What’s memorable: You know, what’s interesting about Jeff is that his addiction was so clearly a direct result of a traumatic work-related incident. It wasn’t just exacerbated by it, it was CREATED by it as a response to the trauma. He was a hero and family man until this one thing, and now he’s lost everything. It’s lovely how much his firefighter friends are looking after him even as he pushes them away, and it’s harrowing how he can see himself losing everything and can’t stop it. This is one episode that truly frightens me, in that any one of us can experience something so profoundly traumatizing that we can at any time become an addict in need of an intervention.

Official Synopsis: Forty-year-old Jeff was once known as a heroic firefighter after he saved his partner’s life. But Jeff was traumatized by the harrowing event, and his drinking increased drastically. Jeff has received two DUI’s and been rushed to the hospital numerous times for seizures. Jeff’s alcoholism has also forced his son and wife to move out. Now his family’s last hope is that an intervention will stop Jeff from drinking himself to death.

AshleyAge: 20Location: Las Vegas. NevadaAddiction: Heroin (black tar) and XanaxWhat’s memorable: Oh, that hacking. At 20 years old she can’t breathe, has to use a nebulizer several times a day just to survive. Also, the strange relationships with her mother & aunt, the snorting off the sidewalk using a tampon applicator.

Official Synopsis: Ashley was raised by a mother who was addicted to methamphetamines and gambling. Ashley flourished when her aunt and uncle became her legal guardians, but she started using heroin when her beloved grandfather died. Now she bounces back and forth between her rigid aunt’s house and her permissive mother’s house, and she’s developed serious asthma from smoking heroin. The family fears that Ashley will soon overdose and die.

ShaneAge: 26Location: Scottsdale, ArizonaAddiction: Oxycontin primarily, but also Percocet, Vicodin, Xanax, etc.What’s memorable: Dude gets HIGH on those pills, man. Can’t even keep his eyes open. The relationship with his addict dad is interesting, how far he went down after his death. Also, the delusions about his Italian ancestry is fascinating. He’s clearly just desperately searching for an identity and has been for a long time.

Official Synopsis: A talented cellist and an aspiring music producer, Shane’s musical aspirations are now out of reach because he abuses prescription drugs and deals drugs out of his grandmother’s house. After injuring his neck in a car accident, he began abusing OxyContin. His father was a drug addict, too, who died from an overdose. Now Shane is following in his father’s deadly footsteps–can an intervention break the cycle?

MarciAge: late 30’s?Location: Chico, CaliforniaAddiction: Meth, pain medsWhat’s memorable: The seriously high-speed crazy stuff she says that makes absolutely no sense to anyone else. Her in-denial mother and dying brother. How shockingly different she was as a wife and mother just a few years ago.

Official Synopsis: To outsiders, Marci’s family life seemed ideal. But while her mother worked, Marci was left home with her alcoholic father. She endured his abuse while her mother looked the other way. Marci began drinking and doing drugs. Her marriage failed, and she lost custody of her children. But her mother still denies that Marci has a bad problem. Can an intervention help Marci and her mother to stop their dangerous behavior before it’s too late?